Shwmaeathon - 15 Oct, 2019

Well I plucked up enough courage at the fourth attempt to drop into the Shwmaeathon. Diolch pawb for making it less scary than in my head! Not sure if I made any sense but I was trying to say to @tatjana that I remembered seeing a dragon on one of the bridges in Ljubljana and here it is (if I’ve worked out how to add a link) https://www.dropbox.com/s/n74q9hhz19wvkb3/2015-09-02%2011.13.24.jpg?dl=0

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@jenny-5 you made a lot of sense but unfortunately we were interrupted by another in-comming Shwmaethon participant and your voice was a bit quiet. But I’ve understood that you were in Ljubljana 4 years ago and you were on the bridge with the dragons. This is “Dragons bridge” (Zmajski most) and has 4 dragons - one at each side. The legend says it protects the city and the river from the concorers. The same dragon (which is, for the difference of Welsh one, green) you also can find in the Ljubljana coat of arms and is also the distinctive sign of Ljubljana.

I was glad to talk to you and especially happy to hear you’ve visited my little country. What I didn’t get to ask you is if you had a great time there. Hopefully your holidays were great and interesting one.

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I made it into the sgwrs twice, rather briefly at the start and then longer in the early evening (for your time zone). At first, I felt tentative and nervous, but after half an hour of people popping in and out, I kind of forgot we were speaking Welsh. It was a great feeling–

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Thanks for the explanation about the dragons @tatjana - I just thought it was interesting that dragons are important for both Slovenia and Wales. As for my holiday in Slovenia? Yes, thank you, I had the most wonderful week walking in the mountains, staying close to Lake Bled and swimming in the lake once I got my boots off at the end of the day. Probably my best holiday ever!

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I’m always amazed to hear people say this. It was brilliant meeting you, Sasha, and whole load of other people who have done so brilliantly at learning our (and I mean ‘our’ to include all of us who took part!) language. I loved the format of this year’s shwmaeathon (Diolch Deborah for organising it so well!) and I loved even more that so many of you who’ve been speaking Welsh for only a few years, or in many cases months, were just throwing yourselves into the spirit of the Shwmaeathon.

Taking part in, and especially leading an international online Welsh language event is a pretty good addition to anyone’s CV.

And this is exactly what I mean. Terrified, but did it anyway, enjoyed it, and had a conversation, in Welsh, with someone from Slovenia (sorry to miss you, Tatjana!)… Make sure we see you again next year, Jenny!

And of course:

… the feeling of being a Welsh speaker.

Diolch yn fawr everyone!

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